


Safe and Sound

by credencebarebxne



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: 1926, Angst, Canon Compliant, Character Death, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Movie 1: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, New York City, Original Character(s), POV First Person, Pain, Romance, Temporary Character Death, canon pairings - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-06
Updated: 2017-06-12
Packaged: 2018-09-29 20:20:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10143218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/credencebarebxne/pseuds/credencebarebxne
Summary: The shy boy with the scarred hands never thought he’d find solace in anything, or anyone, so when he finds the girl with the bright eyes he thinks he’s finally found his escape. But she has her own history. With MACUSA hunting them and the threat of Grindelwald ever present, will they make it to a place where they can be safe and sound?





	1. A New Life

**Author's Note:**

> This prologue is set to "Happier" by Ed Sheeran.
> 
> This is my first fic and I hope you enjoy it! I welcome all feedback and comments, and I hope to update regularly!

The sun was rising and the water began to shine as the boat cut through the waves towards the shore. It had been a long time since she had been somewhere unknown to her, but at least he was waiting on the other side to explore a new city with her. It had been a few years since they saw each other last and a lot had happened. He had left without explanation and she had stayed, lasted out the remaining years until she was able to escape too. He could be different. Would he still be wearing that blue coat that suited him so well? Would he still have that sheepish smile, showing his happiness tinged with a slight awkward air? They had been like brother and sister before but would that have changed with the distance between them? Would he recognise her? She had been just thirteen years old, and he had been nearly nineteen. Having an actual brother the same age as him had thrown them together, finding a similar outlook on the world and becoming closer than she had ever been to her real brother. He had looked out for her, until he left. And that was when… No. She couldn’t think of that. She had an opportunity to start again in front of her, and she was leaving the past behind.  


The boat lurched as it came in to dock and her heart thudded with apprehension. Maybe it wasn’t too late to turn around? No, again that was a ridiculous thing to think. She steeled herself, taking a deep breath of the early morning New York air and stood ready to get off. The boat lurched again, and she was tipped forward suddenly, her reflexes only so quick as to grab the railing and swing herself so that she was sat on the deck. A faint chuckling echoed across the gap between the dock and the boat to where she was and her head snapped up at the sound she recognised so well. Gingery hair glinted as it caught the sun and she saw the blue of his coat, the smile she remembered and the battered brown briefcase he had used every year she had known him.  


“Still graceful, after all this time?” He called to her, still laughing as she stood herself up and smoothed down her windblown hair. Her only reply was to stick her tongue out at him just like when she was thirteen and sending him notes across the library begging for help with her homework. He chuckled and moved towards the gangway as she mirrored his path across. A split second of uncertainty flashed through her mind, but at his smile and slight nod of the head, all her memories of their friendship and the warmth he had always shown her rushed back to her and she ran towards him. She leapt into his open arms and wrapped her arms tight around him. He buried his head into her shoulder and hugged her just as tightly. It was clear to both of them that their bond had not been broken all those years ago.  


“I missed you… Where did you go?” She mumbled into his coat, slowly releasing him and stepping back to look him in the eye. His face fell a little.  
He smiled sadly. “You too… I had to go. I wasn’t allowed to stay there anymore and they gave me no time to say goodbye.” She started to protest but he stopped her with a single warm look, telling her silently that everything was okay. “I found something… I want you to see him, and the others.” They had reached the customs point. She had little luggage, and went through first. She made sure to tuck her wand into the inside lining of her coat before she passed the guard, but he was stopped.  


“British, huh?” The guard asked him, sounding bored with his monotonous work.  


“Yes.” He replied swiftly, avoiding eye contact with the guard as she waited impatiently on the other side.  


“First trip to New York?”  


“Yes.”  


“Anything edible in there?” The guard motioned to the briefcase.  


“No.” He shook his head, starting to rise up and down onto tiptoes nervously.  


“Livestock?”  


One of the case’s fastenings popped open and he looked at her with slight panic in his eyes. “I really must get that fixed… Um, no.” He shut the fastening and looked back at the guard.  


“Let me take a look.” In an instant, he had pressed a switch, and presented the case to the guard, opening it to find nothing but some clothes, a yellow and black scarf, a pocket watch and a book. The guard waved him past, satisfied nothing out of the ordinary was in the case, and he rejoined her past the checkpoint. She jabbed him in the arm, widening her eyes to tell him that it had been too close a call for her liking, and they carried on into the slightly chilly New York morning. It was a new journey for her. She was going to make the most of her new life.


	2. The Shy Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iris Arlyn has arrived in New York City and reconnected with her childhood friend, Newt Scamander. They catch up on the years they've been apart as they walk along the streets. Coming across a demonstration by the Second Salemers outside the Bank sets off a chain of events that Iris never saw coming when she left England to start fresh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has taken me forever to update with this chapter for Safe and Sound and thank you to everyone who's patiently waited! This fic goes along with the general story of the Fantastic Beasts film so expect to meet all the characters you loved, and I hope you enjoy this new chapter.

“How’s your dad?” Newt made conversation as they walked along the busy streets of New York. The slight breeze was a little cold, and Iris wrapped her coat around her a little more securely.

“He’s okay. He has Mum looking after him so he’s not alone, and I still got letters from them until I left Hogwarts.” She paused, looking away from Newt’s perceptive gaze. “The common room is still the same, by the way.”

He smiled widely, his head ducking down into his shoulders slightly and his eyes seeming to light up at the mention of their old Hogwarts House. They had both been sorted into Hufflepuff and even with a few years between them, they had become good friends through their love of books and magical creatures. Of course, Newt’s friendship with Leta Lestrange, another social outcast at school, had meant their time together became less as she wanted more attention from him. Iris had always suspected him of having affectionate feelings for Leta, but he had always been a private person so she never pressed the matter.

“Did you manage to get to New Zealand?” Iris asked, her smile mirroring that on Newt’s face.

“Yes, I did. But I didn’t actively seek out the Antipodean Opaleyes, I’m afraid to say. My time there was short.”

Iris seemed to pout a little, having spoken at length when they were both at Hogwarts about her want to find one of these dragons and see its beautiful iridescent wings. She perked up quickly however, determined to ask about other creatures she had been desperate to see since taking Care of Magical Creatures. “Did you at least find a Snidget somewhere? What about a Moke? Or a Jarvey? You know there’s a few people we would have loved to introduce to a Jarvey’s… _colourful_ vocabulary.”

They both chuckled, reminiscing fondly on the way they banded together once Iris had been sorted into Hufflepuff. The street had become busier and more packed as they walked further away from the docks. The cool air clouded with steam around vehicles that passed pedestrians and Iris caught snatches of Muggle conversations. They were all talking about things that were so ordinary, so mundane, so _safe_. She wondered what life would have been like if her family were a little more ordinary…

A voice drifted over the bustling noises of people going about their day-to-day lives, seeming to pierce the air. A small crowd had gathered at the steps to the Bank, a huge stately building, and banners with the initials N.S.P.S waved in the light breeze. “This great city sparkles with the jewels of Man’s inventions: movie theatres, automobiles, the wireless, electric lights!” Newt turned, head tilted upwards to stare at intricate steelwork overhanging the street, and began stepping backwards. _His curiosity remained innocent after all this time,_ Iris thought fondly. He really was the brother she ought to have had. Newt, in his obliviousness to the crowd around him, bumped into a young woman before Iris could nudge him back into awareness of his surroundings.

“I’m so sorry…” Iris rolled her eyes before guiding Newt past the edges of the crowd. The young woman, her hair in a smooth bob and her coat collar turned up, gave the pair a look with her eyes narrowed a little, as if suspicious of their presence at what was now apparent to be a rally.

The voice, distinctly female and with an tone of urgency, continued. “All these dazzle and bewitch us but where there is light, there is shadow, friend. Something is stalking our city! Wreaking destruction and disappearing without a trace!” Iris frowned. This woman sounded like she was expressing radical views to the gathered crowd, and she knew only too well how dangerous radicalism could get. “Listen to me – we have to fight! Join us, the Second Salemers, in our fight!” Iris shared a worried look with Newt, who had been listening with concern next to her. The woman speaking was quite small, but had an edge to the way she stood as if she was leading the masses through a war in which she would come out victorious. A small girl was silently handing out leaflets at the front of the crowd, her head bowed, whilst a woman in her mid-twenties stood near woman addressing the crowd. Iris bit her lip nervously. It appeared to be a family rally. Suddenly, her attention was caught by a stocky man tripping over Newt’s briefcase that he had set down quietly as they stood listening.

Newt blinked, broken from his wide-eyed staring, and helped the man to his feet. “So sorry… My case…” The man picked up his own briefcase and dusted his jacket off, giving Newt and Iris a resigned smile.

“No harm done.” He replied, and continued squeezing through the now tightly packed crowd in order to reach the Bank.

Iris nudged Newt. “Be careful, when there’s this many people we shouldn’t attract attention.” He nodded in reply and returned his attention to the woman on the steps, just as she was raising her arm to point directly at him. Iris gently took hold of his coat sleeve in one hand, ready to pull him away if anything untoward should occur.

“You! Friend!” The woman paused, looking at Newt in earnest. “What drew you to our meeting today?” His eyes widened as most of the crowd turned to look at him, wondering who had been pointed out by who they believed to be some kind of messiah.

“Oh, I, uh… I was just passing…” His stammer was evidence of his discomfort at being the centre of attention, especially the attention of strangers, Iris noticed. She gripped Newt’s coat sleeve a little tighter to remind him that she was there and ready to help him if necessary.

“Are you a seeker? A seeker after truth?” The woman persisted with her questions. Even Iris was now a little on edge and she began looking for a way to get out of the crowd discreetly. She saw a small opening in the mass of bodies, and started inching towards it, trying to pull Newt with her but he seemed fixed to the spot. She noticed a wry smile forming on his face as he replied “I’m more of a Chaser actually.” She smiled. Even after these past few years, he still had his dry sense of humour and remembered his brief time on the Quidditch team. His response seemed to satisfy the woman on the steps who returned to her impassioned plea to the crowd. They in turn all faced the woman again, and both Newt and Iris breathed a shaky sigh of relief.

“Hear my words and heed my warning, laugh if you dare. Witches live among us!” Iris’ head snapped up, eyes focusing on the woman. In an instant, she realised that it was the wrong time to have travelled to America. She began edging her way to the gap in the crowd a little faster. “We have to fight together for the sake of our children, for the sake of tomorrow!” Iris twisted back to see if Newt was following her, but he was stood still, gazing at the top of the steps with worry in his face. The woman had not stopped aiming her rallying cry at Newt, Iris saw, as she again directed her question at him. “What do you say to that, friend?”

Iris held her breath, waiting for Newt’s next response. He abruptly set off pushing through the crowd in the direction of the Bank however, keeping a tight grip on his briefcase, and sprinted up the steps. Iris caught a glimpse of a small creature with features not unlike a platypus snatching coins from the hat of a man asleep by a pillar, before vanishing. The crowd murmured disapprovingly at Newt’s forcing his way through, and as they reshuffled in order to continue listening comfortably, Iris saw a young man at the base of the steps. His head was bowed, like the young girl’s, and he also had a stack of leaflets broadcasting the message that witches were present in the city. He looked up for a second and their eyes met. Iris was struck by how hollow his eyes were, devoid of any emotion except a muted anxiety and perhaps a little surprise at being looked at so directly. His gaze returned to the leaflets in his hands, and the crowds began to disperse as the woman announced the demonstration was over. There was something about this young man that intrigued Iris, so she made her way towards him just as a businessman in a rush, with his head tilted down against the wind picking up in the city, jolted his arm and knocked all the leaflets to the ground; there was no exchange of words, only the continuing of the businessman on his way, and the slow kneeling of the young man to collect the scattered pages.

“Credence.” The woman said only the name. _Credence,_ Iris repeated his name in her mind and held back, hiding slightly behind a portly man. Speaking the name aloud was all the woman needed to do, as Credence hurriedly gathered the rest of the leaflets and rose to his feet, head still bowed and shoulders hunched over. “Modesty, Chastity, it’s time to leave. Come along.”

The girl, Modesty, walked silently over to Credence and took his arm, guiding him away from the steps of the Bank. Iris followed them as they walked into a more dilapidated area of the city, the air growing colder and biting through Iris’ coat. The group didn’t seem to feel the cold however, and they soon stopped outside a small church, the older woman opening the door and letting the others enter. Heading over to a low window at the front of the church, Iris peered through the glass. The interior of the church was sparse. Bare wooden boards stretched across the floor, and no ornamentation or photographs or homely comforts were to be seen. Looking further upwards towards to battered wooden staircase, she noticed the cobwebs building up in the corners of the high ceiling and the tell-tale remains of bird nests overhanging the lofty windows. The wind blew a leaflet against Iris’ leg, and plucking it from where it clung to her, she read the harsh, radical words upon it that slated the existence of witches and called Muggles to arms in the fight against them. The fight was being led by the woman, named in the leaflet as Mary Lou Barebone, leader of the Second Salemers and the mother of Chastity, Credence and Modesty. They did not look like a family, and she looked back into the church. _Who would choose to live here? This is not a home…_

Iris’ thoughts were interrupted by Credence and Modesty coming back into view and she ducked to avoid being seen. As she regained the courage to look back through the window, she saw that the pair had their focus on Mary Lou, who was standing as still as a statue on the staircase. Modesty turned away from Mary Lou, wiping tears from her cheeks as Credence walked towards their mother. Another gust of wind reminded Iris that she was crouched outside in the bitter air, and she realised she had left Newt back at the Bank, rushing up the steps towards the Niffler. She cursed softly to herself, and rose to her feet before racing down the streets back towards the Bank.

“Hey! Excuse me, did you see a man with a brown briefcase and a blue coat inside?” Iris stopped, her breath clouding in the cold air, in front of the man who had tripped over Newt’s briefcase whilst they had stood in the gathered crowd. His face looked panicked.

“If you’re with him, then you need to stay away from me,” He started backing away from Iris, clutching his own briefcase. “The man got out a stick and we were in one place, and then we were in the vaults?! And he froze the Manager! There’s something wrong wi-“ The man continued muttering as he started walking hurriedly away.

Iris groaned and started running up the steps of the Bank, skidding to a stop when movement from around the corner caught her eye. She saw Newt’s bright blue coat for a moment, and began swiftly heading over to where it had suddenly vanished. Rounding the corner, and scanning the still busy street, she spotted her friend being marched away from her by the same woman he had bumped into. She appeared to have a tight grip on his arm, and looked like she was scolding him. Iris sighed. He always managed to get himself in some sort of trouble, no matter the place or situation. And it was up to her, once again, to get him out of it.


End file.
